After
by Still My Heart
Summary: HBP SPOILERS. Hermione and Severus talk after the events of Chapters 28 and 29.


HBP SPOILERS OMG!

This is just a little ficlet that popped into my head after I finished HBP. Obviously, there are spoilers. Read at your own risk.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Hermione Granger lay awake in her bed, staring up at the dark canopy. Lavender Brown lay in her bed across the room, having drifted into an uneasy sleep about a half hour ago. Hermione heard her turn in her sleep, let out a soft moan, and then fall silent again. Parvati Patil had left earlier that night, her arm wrapped tightly around her sister Padma. Tears streamed down their identical faces as their parents guided them from the castle, both of them looking distinctly upset but trying to maintain their composure for the sake of their daughters.

Now Hermione could almost feel the absence of the other girl, despite the fact that she and Parvati had never been particularly close, even after sharing a room for six years.

The sadness in the castle was palpable, but a different emotion ruled over Hermione. Anger boiled in her veins, and sure now that Lavender was sound asleep, she pushed her covers aside and slipped quietly from the room. She crept into the boys dormitory, glancing fondly at their sleeping forms as she knelt in front of Harry's open trunk and found his Invisibility Cloak. Straightening, she tip-toed from the room, carefully closing the door behind her.

Hermione padded down the stairs to the common room and swung the cloak over her head as she pushed open the portrait.

Her pace quickened as she approached the doors leading to the grounds and once she reached the grounds, once her toes touched the dewy grass, she broke into a run, sprinting down to the gates. Once outside, she Apparated to where she knew he'd be.

She pushed open the door to the house with enough force to make it bang loudly against the wall and he whipped around, wand raised. Books lay in piles around him, the formerly stuffed bookshelves now looking sparse and untidy. Hermione tore off the cloak and he slowly lowered his wand.

"How could you?" she whispered.

"Hermione-"

"How could you?" Hermione screamed it this time, holding Harry's cloak so tightly in her hands she thought she might rip it. She let it flutter to the floor, where it puddled around her feet.

"Hermione, you _don't understand_," he said loudly, taking a step towards her. Hermione noted his disheveled clothes and obvious agitation, but paid no mind.

"Don't come near me," she said through clenched teeth. "Severus..." Her voice broke and a tear fell from each eye.

"Harry was right. You are... you killed..."

"If I'm evil, then what the hell are you doing here?" Severus shouted, frustrated.

"Because I had to know." Hermione's voice shook, tears of anger streaming down her face.

"You don't know what happened," Severus said, trying to force some reason into the situation.

"Harry told me-"

"Harry-" Severus began, shouting the name. Hermione flinched and her eyes flashed. "He didn't see what he thought he saw," Severus finished quietly.

"Professor Dumbledore begged for his life," Hermione murmured shakily.

"Albus Dumbledore would never have begged for his life." A sort of quiet fury radiated from Severus as he said this. "He pleaded with me to kill him. He was already dying from the potion. He _asked_ me to end it," Severus said firmly, his eyes seeming to dare Hermione not to believe him. She shook her head, her tears flowing harder now.

"Believe me or don't," Severus said softly and he was in front of her, his hands on her shoulders. "But you have to go. You have to go back to the castle." Severus moved away, back to his piles of books. Hermione now saw a trunk open with a few of the tomes, obviously the ones he cared the most about.

"Where are you going?" she asked, sniffling as she picked up the Invisibility Cloak, still not sure if she believed him.

"Away. Go back to the castle, Hermione, before they get here. If they find you here..." Severus shook his head. He turned back to Hermione and kissed her, then pushed her out the door, slamming it shut.

Feeling dazed and suddenly exhausted, Hermione covered herself with the cloak and started away from the house. It was a few minutes until she could concentrate enough to Apparate.

She entered the castle and removed the cloak as she approached the Gryffindor common room entrance. She mumbled the password and the portrait swung open, the Fat Lady too distraught to notice the late hour.

Hermione stashed Harry's cloak back in his trunk and went to her own dormitory. Lavender was now deeply asleep.

Hermione crawled into her own bed, rolling onto her side and pulling the covers to her shoulders. She didn't cry, just stared at the wall until she fell asleep.

The kiss came back to her the next day, after Dumbledore's funeral had ended, and she began to cry, sad for Dumbledore and scared for herself, her friends, everyone. Ron held her and despite her pain and confusion, she liked the feel of his arms around her and hoped it would always be like this, no matter what happened in the year to come.

-----------------------------------------------------------

I realize this is also very short (much shorter than I'd thought it would be), but oh well. This is finished, so no continuation. You can form your own thoughts as to what Hermione and Severus's relationship was before :)


End file.
